Shilanski & Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $659.88 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $604.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $561.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $663.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 603,032 shares of company stock valued at $368,666,614. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.